The case in which a former foster mother is charged with stealing nearly $40,000 from Butler County Children and Youth Services is a black eye for the agency. Safeguards should have been in place to prevent what occurred. And such a situation never must be allowed to happen again.

Tammy Lynn Smith, 42, of Penn Township allegedly kept $39,162 that was sent to her in error after a boy and girl who were entrusted to the care of Smith and her husband, Ronald Smith, were, under a Butler County Court order, returned to their biological mother.

The children lived with the Smiths from January to March 2004, but checks were sent through April 2006, and then direct deposits to the Smiths' joint bank account were made until June of this year, with the money allegedly being spent by Tammy Smith.

Ronald Smith has not been charged in connection with the theft. During a Sept. 22 interview, both Smiths said Tammy Smith had sole responsibility for the account, despite Ronald Smith's name being on the account.

Tammy Smith told county detective Pat Cannon that she thought the payments were continuing in case the girl was returned. She put herself in jeopardy with the law by failing to clarify the issue and continuing to receive the monthly payments.

As for CYS, the months and years of ongoing payments suggest a serious breakdown in financial controls within the agency — as well as a lack of ongoing monitoring of what was happening within the financial side of the agency's operation.

That lack of proper monitoring in the Smith case depicts a long-term pattern of shoddy oversight that raises the question of how the problem could have continued, undetected, for so long. The county controller's office, which approves all checks written by county departments, must rely on CYS accuracy because the names of juveniles are protected.

To be fair, it is necessary to point out that the situation with the Smiths didn't begin while the current CYS director, Joyce Ainsworth, was in the agency's top post.

The CYS director at the time the court ruled that the children should be returned to their biological mother was Ed Skrocki, who had headed the agency for eight years prior to retiring in the spring of 2008.

But it's nonetheless eye-opening that Ainsworth, after being named to head the agency last year, failed to initiate a review of the agency's operations in connection with taking over the top post — a review that might have raised questions about the money being sent to the Smiths.

CYS consists of caseworkers, supervisors and the agency director. The agency deals with children under 18 suffering from abuse, neglect and addictions.

Ainsworth, who said her department's fiscal staff had identified the error that had resulted in the Smith payments, said it would be too difficult to explain how the accounting error occurred.

"It's a pretty complex system," she said in an interview. "It just failed."

But clearly someone failed to do his, her or their job.

While Ainsworth wouldn't elaborate on what focused attention on the Smith payments, she said all current cases in the county have been reviewed to ensure there were no discrepancies.

In addition, she said the payment system for foster care parents would be analyzed and that an audit to review past cases might be done.

All considered, that is a good idea, although it is to be presumed that very few, if any, other foster parents who might have received a payment to which they weren't entitled, at some point in time, would have reacted the way Tammy Smith did.

"We just spent the money" is the explanation offered by Tammy Smith, as quoted in the criminal complaint against her.

Her arraignment was scheduled for today before District Judge Sue Haggerty.

Mistakes can happen in any work environment and also people's private lives. But this CYS error, considering its magnitude and the time span over which it occurred, is grounds for serious concern not only in the county government but also among the public at large.

CYS has an important responsibility to the children it serves but also to the people whose tax dollars fund its operations.

The agency might have a caseload of daunting size much of the time, but that cannot be used as an excuse for a failure to properly manage the money with which it is entrusted.

That's why a thorough review of past and current agency financial records is in order.